The Sickness
by Renegader
Summary: A feverish Kagome travels to fuedal Japan. As her symptoms worsen, she and Inuyasha attempt to track down Kiede, but things take a sharp turn for the worse as Inuyasha begins to feel strange.
1. Chapter 1: Feudal Influenza

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, Kagome, anchorwomen, the well, Rumiko Takahashi, Japan, feudal Japan, influenza, or the pretty pink tutu I saw in Disneyland. I just own this plot.

Bored with mind-numbing sitcoms, fifteen-year-old Kagome Higurashi switched the T.V. channel to news.

"In other news," the anchorwoman was saying, "there's been a recent outbreak of the flu, otherwise known as influenza. Symptoms, as usual, include vomiting, fever, soreness, and weariness. Anyone feeling intense nausea is advised to stay indoors for two to four days, as this is the peak of contagiousness. Disease typically lasts for three to six days, but anyone still experiencing symptoms after a full seven days is recommended to call their doctor. Throwing up blood is a definite sign of infection, and should therefore be treated with-"

Kagome switched off the television with a sigh. There was nothing on, her brother was out playing with his friends, her kasaan was out of town, and Grandpa was getting groceries at his daughter's request. Suddenly, Kagome shot up off the couch. She had an idea.

She ran to her room, threw on her backpack, and darted out the door. She was going to see Inuyasha.

She jumped down the well and felt herself falling through time. Quite abruptly, she sensed an oncoming nausea and nearly gagged. Choking back what she passed off as motion sickness, she got up onto her feet and dusted herself off.

She looked around the bottom of the well before grabbing the vines that led her up and out of it. Climbing out, Kagome peered around in the bright light and smiled. "I'm back," she whispered to the wind.

"About time," came an arrogant voice from behind her. Kagome whirled around to face none other than the haughty half-demon. Her face lit up. "Inuyasha! I've missed you so much, I-"

She suddenly stopped mid-sentence, breathing heavily.

"Well?" Inuyasha demanded. "Are you gonna tell me, or are you just going to- HEY, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" he broke off as Kagome retched convulsively onto the grass at her feet. Inuyasha gaped at her as if she was insane as the spasmodic heaving of her stomach eased, and finally subsided.

"What did you do that for?" he inquired in a high voice. Kagome slowly rose to her feet to glare at him.

"So you think I had any control over-" she growled, but gasped as she was interrupted by a massive, bone quaking tremor running down her spine. "Oh…. S-so cold…." she quivered, shaking. She lay the back of one shivering hand on her clammy forehead; judging by the heat, she was well over the average temperature for a normal human.

"I'm sick," she announced weakly.

Inuyasha growled in irritation. "Get on my back."

"Where are we going, Inuyasha?" she asked, complying.

"To the old hag's house," he said in a flat voice.

"Kaede?" Kagome sounded grateful. "Oh, Inuyasha, thank you…."

"Whatever." He was already bounding through the trees.

In no time, they had reached a house. Inuyasha stopped, and Kagome stepped off his back. They walked inside, the half-demon bracing a wobbling Kagome.

"Kaede?" Kagome called through the empty house, her voice uncertain.

"Yo, hag!" Inuyasha yelled, much less ceremoniously.

There was no reply.

"Feh, she's not at home then," he said dismissively. He walked outside, addressing a random passerby. "Hey you! Where's Kaede?"

The man blinked, slightly surprised. "She left yesterday to tend to some rash that broke out nearby-"

"How nearby?" Inuyasha interrupted, always the polite one.

"Uh, about ten leagues from here."

"Thanks for the help," Inuyasha replied in a less than grateful voice. "Kagome, come on. " He paused. "Kagome?"

The girl was seated against the wall of Kiede's house, moaning and holding her stomach.

"What's your problem?" He stared at her incredulously.

"My…. Stomach," she groaned.

He scowled at her. "Then get on my back, and we'll track down the old hag!"

She grudgingly rose to one foot, wincing from held back nausea. It took her several seconds to hoist herself onto his back into a stable position, but as she finally did, Inuyasha crouched and jumped. About halfway through his jump, he realized that he didn't feel quite as strong as normal. After landing, he had achieved a distance of about two feet total. Looking about the area, Inuyasha tried to detect some interference.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped. "Your hair!"

He let her drop gently to her feet on the ground and snatched up a lock of his silvery hair, only to find that it wasn't silvery. It was onyx.

(A/N): And so the plot thickens. True, this isn't as funny as I led you to believe. In fact, this is probably my least humorous fic. I'll try to upload more soon, but no promises, as always. Feel free to R&R, flame, or whatever you like. It's highly possible I won't read a single review, though. Ja ne! ^^


	2. Chapter 2: Relationship Advice

Disclaimer: I own this story, my laptop, my pants, a foreign piece of coral, and one leather jacket. That's all. Where were we again? Oh yes, that's right.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped. "Your hair!"

He let her drop gently to her feet on the ground and snatched up a lock of his silvery hair, only to find that it wasn't silvery. It was onyx.

"And your ears- they're normal"

Inuyasha reached to the top of his head to tug reassuringly at one fuzzy ear, but found nothing. Hand sliding down the side of his head warily, Inuyasha found a human ear.

"Damn!" he swore. "I'm not supposed to change to a human yet. Besides, it's broad daylight. That's never happen- gah!" He was trembling, seemingly overcome with cold.

"Inuyasha, are you okay?" Kagome asked, laying a concerned hand on his arm. Her eyes widened. "Inuyasha, does it feel like your stomach is heaving?"

He glared at her. "How did you know? Is it bad?"

Tears sprung into Kagome's eyes. "Oh, Inuyasha!" she cried, flinging herself into his arms. "Demons aren't supposed to get sick. I didn't think it could catch, and- oh, it's all my fault. I'm so very sorry!" She sobbed into his chest as she clung to him.

He hesitantly eased his arms around her. "Don't ever cry for me," he told her in a harsh but soft voice.

She smiled slightly, tears still glistening in her eyes. Kagome hugged him, tightly but quickly, and let go to drag him back into Kaede's hut. "You need to si- uh, that is, take a seat. I can't have you walking around when you're sick like that."

"You're sick too," Inuyasha retorted.

"Yes," Kagome agreed, "But your temperature is far higher than mine. Your body is working extra hard to get rid of this sickness, but it's also hurting you in the process. You're a lot worse off than I am, at least for right now. If we're lucky, Kiede will return soon and be able to heal us."

"So what can we do in the mean time?"

"You need to stay there. I'm going to make you some-"

"Ramen?" Inuyasha interjected hopefully.

"Well," Kagome sighed, "I was going to say soup, but I do have some Ramen in my backpack, and it practically is soup. I suppose I could-"

"Good," Inuyasha said smugly.

Kagome sighed again and vanished into the kitchen.

"Kaede!" called a familiar voice from outside. "We're back! Kae- what? Inuyasha?" Shippou had walked into the room. "What are you doing here?"

"I'd say the same to you," Inuyasha retorted, just as Sango and Miroku walked through the door.

"Inuyasha?" Miroku blinked.

"Yeah, it's me, idiot. Were you expecting Sesshomaru?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"No, of course not, it just alarmed me to see you with black hair and human ears. I didn't think it was your time of the month so soon- and it's not even night!"

(A/N): Yes, it was quite intentional. I rather hope you caught that.

"It's not; I'm just sick," Inuyasha clarified.

Miroku paled visibly. "Sick? That's not good. Demons aren't supposed to get sick."

"Would you like to continue pointing out the obvious?" Inuyasha muttered bitterly.

"Inuyasha, I don't think you understand; demons can NOT get sick. They don't have any immune systems, because their bodies are too different from humans for them to contract a human disease, the same way dogs can't catch colds from humans."

"Strategically placed reference to dogs," Inuyasha remarked acidly.

"Wasn't it, though?" Miroku smiled, proud of himself.

"Where is Kaede?" Sango inquired of Inuyasha. "One would think she'd help you to recover."

"That's exactly why Kagome and I are here," the half-demon replied. "But Kaede's out treating some rash, or something. I wanted to go track her down, but Kagome doesn't think I can handle it." He scowled, muttering, "Shows what she knows," to himself. He looked up at the two and blinked. "Why are you guys here?"

"Kagome is here? Where?" Miroku asked rather quickly.

"Kitchen," Inuyasha said plainly. "Don't change the subject. Why are you here?"

Miroku scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Sango and I are here for, ah…. relationship advice."

"Miroku!" Sango protested shrilly, blushing.

Inuyasha's face grew wary.

"Would you care to know anything else while you're at it?" Miroku demanded, his face flaming.

"Spare me," Inuyasha mumbled dryly.

(A/N): Yes, it's short. Would you prefer if I didn't post any at all until next week? I didn't think so.


	3. Chapter 3: The Effort Not to Puke

Disclaimer: Blarg honk honk. (Look up "RoosterTeeth" or "Red vs. Blue" on YouTube for a ton of laughs, because I don't own "blarg honk honk" either.)

Kagome then walked in from the kitchen, carrying a bowl.

"Here's your Ramen, Inuyasha. You'd better not spill it, because it took a lot of effort not to puke on it after I stirred in the packet of- oh, Miroku? Sango? Shippou? When did you get here?"

"Hiya, Kagome!" Shippou greeted her brightly. "We only got here a moment ago."

"Kagome, Inuyasha is in a very serious condition right now," Miroku announced gravely. "Demons have no immune systems, and are too different anatomically from humans to get sick. However, because of Inuyasha's human heritage, I believe that that gap between species has been bridged. Since he is not dead by now or comatose, I'm assuming that he also inherited some kind of immune system from his mother. I just hope that it's enough to keep this illness at bay."

"You mean to say that something as tiny as a cold could kill a demon, because they can't fight it off?" Kagome asked, horrified.

"Precisely," Sango nodded. "But no demon would ever need to fight off a disease, because they can't become ill in the first place. Our Inuyasha is an exception to that rule- much as he is to most laws of nature."

"You calling me a freak?" Inuyasha asked belligerently.

Sango smiled. "No, you aren't a freak; you're just different." She looked at Kagome with some concern. "Do you think she's alright?" she asked the room.

Kagome was staring at Inuyasha, her eyes wide and frightened.

"What?" Inuyasha demanded of her. "You got somethin' to say, then say it."

"I'M SO SORRY!" Kagome wailed, collapsing to the ground in a heap of tears.

Sango knelt beside her and wrapped comforting arms around the girl, giving Inuyasha a vicious look and mouthing what looked like, "Say something nice!" to him.

Torn by Sango's request and the strong feeling of awkwardness he felt around weepiness, Inuyasha hesitated before saying, "Er- for what?"

"All because of me you might die!" Kagome cried, sobbing even harder.

Inuyasha sighed, giving Shippou, Miroku, and Sango a hard look. Miroku took the hint and motioned to Sango to follow him out of the house, grabbing Shippou by one hand and leading him outside. Sango whispered something soothing to Kagome, and then rose and exited the house.

Now alone with the girl, Inuyasha sighed cleared his throat.

"Ah- Kagome?" he began hesitantly. "I just wanted to say that I'm not angry at you, and I think it was worth it getting sick because I got to see you and you don't always come here a whole lot, so I have to really value- Would you look at me, dammit?!"

Kagome raised her gaze to meet his, still sniffling.

"Look, okay, I hate seeing you sad. You're a good person and stuff. You shouldn't get so upset over crap like this that you didn't want to happen." Standing on unsteady feet, he managed to hobble to her and sit by her side, awkwardly attempting to hug her. He then pushed her back slightly, looking away. "I ain't no pathetic weakling, ya hear? I'm gonna go down in battle like any respectable demon would make sure of."

Kagome laughed softly, sniffing.

Suddenly, Inuyasha was possessed by a violent tremor. Frightened, Kagome could only stare at him in horror. The half-demon continued to tremble for several moments before breathing in deeply and finally overcoming the convulsions.

He smiled weakly. "So that's what all the pathetic ningens call sick," he murmured.

"Oh, Inuyasha, you fool," Kagome sobbed, clutching to him. "That's not human sick at all; to humans, that's dying!"

She continued to weep into his shoulder as he tried to comfort her, but was once again set upon by the massive tremors. Kagome pulled away from him, looking like a lost child.

"Inuyasha, does it hurt?" she asked quietly.

"It feels like white hot claws ripping out every slice of my being," he replied from between clenched teeth. "But it's just a little pain, I'm fine."

Tears glistened in Kagome's eyes, but she didn't have time to weep as a wave of nausea swept over Inuyasha, helping him empty the contents from his stomach.

Finally he was through, and he sat against the wall, trembling.

Shippou poked his head into the hut, peering at them both nervously. "I'd love to stay and help," he said in a shrill voice, "but that disease doesn't look fun to catch, and Miroku said something about Inuyasha's demon half possibly being able to transfer the disease to demons…."

Kagome nodded her head in agreement. "That's a good idea, Shippou." She raised her voice, so Miroku and Sango, who were outside, would be able to hear. "Miroku, Sango, you two should leave as well. I don't want anyone else to suffer on my account. Besides, you two could spread it to others. That would be horrible if it spread like a plague, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, Kagome," Miroku replied meekly, his defenses broken before they could be deployed. "Sango, Shippou, let us depart. We can at least seek out Kaede for these two."

"I hope you may recover quickly, my friends," Sango called to them.

Shippou waved goodbye and slid out of the house.

Kagome sighed for what felt like the billionth time that day. "I hope they return with Kaede soon," she said quietly.

(A/N): Ah, yes, this is as far as I've come in the story. I have a few ideas for the ending, which should be in a few chapters (or possibly even one), but I need the advice of my readers. I don't want to give away too much, so I'll ask about an ending theme instead: should the end be A. romantic, B. depressing C. standard (which is basically your typical happy ending), or D. weird? R&R to give me input, or email me at so I know what you'd prefer- because frankly, I'm torn on this issue. Please and thank you! ^^


End file.
